Amid Covid-19 tourism slump, Nepal’s elephant ride operators are selling their animals to India
Activists allege that the ongoing cross-border trade is illegal and want the two governments to act against it.
Representational image.
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Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters
Padam does not remember when he began keeping elephants at his hotel. But he says that guests used to pay well for elephant rides in the community forests outside Nepal’s famous Chitwan National Park.
Padam’s two elephants were kept busy from dawn to dusk until March 2020. But as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted travel worldwide, one of Nepal’s most popular tourist sites was largely deserted. Although the Nepali government has now lifted most travel restrictions, Chitwan hoteliers like Padam are still faced with less than 50% occupancy.